Morning Spartans
As we know the UNSC was building up its fleet by the time the Covenant turned up and marched them from Harvest all the way back to Earth. However we never really got a clear idea on how many ships the UNSC actually had. I believe that I may have a way of getting a clearer idea of that figure.
I will be using the current world’s navies as a collective group, using ships which are in service or very recently retired as well as those currently being built/ under going trails prior to joining their respective fleets. Planned ships will not be used as they are subject to change at anytime by their governments. Ships will be categorized by mass displaced, designation, and ship design as some nations use the same ship under different designations.
Post Human Covenant War designs such as the Autumn class, Vindication class, Poseidon class, and the Infinity class will not be included as their numbers are also subject to change. Each class will be listed and totalled and an overall figure will be given. Notable fleet numbers and losses from battles will be deducted with the intention of reflecting the potential UNSC fleet strength by the end of the war.
Smaller ships such as destroyers, frigates and corvettes the ship class will not be listed. Instead the sum total will be given. In respect to submarines/ Prowlers, only nuclear powered submarines will be counted.
Super Carriers/ Punic Class
- US FORD CLASS x2 - UK QUEEN ELIZABETH CLASS x2These 2 classes will displace between 75 000 to over 110 000 tonnes once completed easily making them the largest in the world. Also they are crewed by some of the best their navies have, are insanely costly between 3 billion-13 billion dollors/pounds and use all the latest technology lasers, electromagnetic launcher systems, angular design etc. Exactly like the Punic class they would be used only in event of critical importance as the loss of one would be a game changer.
Heavy Carriers/ Epoch Class
- US NIMITZ CLASS X11The US Navy currently operates 10 of the 100 000 ton behemoths, the eleventh being the recently retired USS Enterprise. These ships easily can dictate the outcome of a conflict simply with their presence, similar the original intention of the Epoch class. Boosting a strong air group, sizable embarked force and enough CIWS and MACS to shred most targets, they earned the title heavy.
Strike Carriers/Orion class
- US WASP CLASS X9, AMERICA CLASS X1, - UK INVINCIBLE CLASS X3, OCEAN CLASS X1 - CHINA LIAONING CLASS X2, - RUSSIA ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV CLASS X1, - FRANCE CHARLES DE GAULLE X1, MISTRAL CLASS X3 - EGYPT MISTRAL CLASS X2 - INDIA VIRAAT CLASS X1, VAKRAMADITYA CLASS X2 - JAPAN HYUGA CLASS X2, IZUMO CLASS X2 - AUSTRALIA CANBERRA CLASS X2 - ITALY CAVOUR CLASS X2 - SPAIN JUAN CARLOS CLASS X1 - SOUTH KOREA DOKDO CLASS X1 - BRAZIL SAO PAOLO CLASS X1 - THAILAND CHAKRI NARUEBET CLASS X1Coming in at 18 000 to 65 000 fully loaded most of these ships are meant to carry reasonable air groups while holding Marines and combat vehicles to be used for deployment. Often these ships lead small task groups for amphibious actions against an unsuspecting enemy. Similar to the Orion’s later role of long range interdiction.
Landing Platform Dock/ Pheonix class
- US SAN ANTONIO CLASS X12, US AUSTIN CLASS X1 - UK ALBION CLASS X2 - CHINA YUZHOA CLASS X6 - BRAZIL OURAGAN CLASS X1 - CHILE OURAGAN CLASS X1 - INDIA AUSTIN CLASS X1 - NETHERLANDS ROTTERDAM CLASS X2, KAREL DOORMAN CLASS X1 - JAPAN OSUMI CLASS X3 - ITALY SAN GIORGIO CLASS X3 - INDONESIA MAKASSAR CLASS X4 - PERU MAKASSAR CLASS X2 - SINGAPORE ENDURANCE CLASS X4 - THAILAND ENDURANCE CLASS X1 - SPAIN GALICIA X2Meant to embark and transport large expeditionary forces and equipment to the fight. These ships easily compare to the role the Spirit of Fire had during the war.
Battle cruisers/ Valiant class
- RUSSIA KIROV CLASS X4These are currently the world’s largest and most powerful surface combatants and was the main reason the Reagan presidency brought the Iowa class battleships out of mothballs. Expensive, heavily manned and dwarfing anything short of a heavy/ super carrier, these juggernauts easily fill the role the EVEREST would have taken
Cruisers/ Marathon/ Halcyon classes
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US TICONDEROGA CLASS X22 - RUSSIA SLAVA CLASS X4 - PERU PROVINCIEN CLASS X1
Often acting as lead guard ship in a carrier group or flagship within a strike group, these cruisers are the heavy hitters of the navy. Though the role is become increasingly blurred as destroyers become more capable.
Destroyers/ Hillsborough/ Halberd class
GLOBAL TOTAL 244
Acting as either escorts for battlegroups or as lone powerful strike ships the modern destroyer is very much the predecessor to the Halberd.
Frigates/ Paris/ Stalwart/ Charon/Strident classes
GLOBAL TOTAL 505
The Jack of all trades in the fleet, frigates can serve as escorts, strike or rapid reaction ships. Armaments will vary depending on the role but in the right hands, they are always a force to be reckoned with.
Corvettes**/ Mako class**
GLOBAL TOTAL 709
Lighter than frigates but more powerful than patrol craft. They are used to protect territorial waters and can be tailored to fit a particular need. While we know very little about the Mako class, it would have more likely been used to protect planetary installations and provide general orbital patrol
Submarines/Prowlers
For this I have only counted nuclear-powered subs.
GLOBAL TOTAL 176
Whilst not entirely like submarines as they never engage the enemy, prowlers like subs use the various types of technological advances to keep them hidden. They are also used for inserting/ extracting SF teams into/from enemy territory, monitoring enemy moments and interdiction of enemy transport routes in the way of orbital mine fields.
Total fleet size excluding prowlers = 1,568 ships by the start of the war.
Now if we multiply x2 the totals for frigates, destroyers and corvettes. Reason being these classes of ships would be easily built and pushed out to the front = 2 914 fighting ships.
Then find half the total of all capital ships and add that to the total. Reason being that these ships would take longer to build due to size, cost, reduction in raw materials, manpower, safe space etc = 192 capital ships.
This gives a potential war fleet of 2 914 + 192 =
3 106 ships rounded up to 3 110 ships for the UNSC.
Thus if the UNSC had this number of ships at the start of the war, but suffered an average 90 percent casualty rate when engaging the Covenant in ship combat, for example the fleet above Reach was over 150 ships, however at the end of the battle, the UNSC lost over 130 ships including the capital ships, Trafalgar and Hannibal to name a few, while most other fleets then consisted of 50-75 ships, most of which we are lead to believe were either completely destroyed or rendered combat ineffective.
Then the UNSC would have approximately 311 ships left by the time the war ended. Mostly made up of frigates and destroyers with the last of the capital ships forming the core of and fleet.
The prowler fleet I have left separate since they are not direct combat ships and also are under ONI control. So the same theory can’t be used. To that end I would speculate that at least 30% of the fleet may have been lost while the remainder were upgraded or retired.
So what do you all think? If anyone wishes to comment or add anything I missed or expand upon it in general feel free to do so.
SC Matt 7 Beta 5 operator and anyone else feel free to comment.